The real Crocodile Dundee

The prototype of “Crocodile Dundee” was a Latvian. But there is a nuance…

You’ve probably watched the multi-episode comedy blockbuster “Crocodile Dundee” with the charming Australian comedian Paul Hogan in the lead role. A fearless crocodile hunter from the Australian outback charms an American reporter, defeats bad guys and travels through the megalopolises of America, getting into funny situations. So, the prototype of Crocodile Dundee was Crocodile Harry, a Latvian hunter Arvids von Blumentals.

In 1947, Arvids joined the French Foreign Legion, then in 1951 he moved to Australia, where he began hunting crocodiles. A damn dangerous, but very profitable business – crocodile skin brought in a very good income. As a result, this Latvian killed about 40,000 crocodiles, becoming a local celebrity.

A rich life, lifestyle and fame as a successful hunter made Arvid, Harry, as he was known to everyone in Australia, a local celebrity. People began interviewing him, writing about him in newspapers, making TV stories and documentaries, and his personality began to become overgrown with legends. Rumors about him began to spread beyond Australia. What nickname did they give him? Yes, that’s right — “Crocodile”. Harry the Crocodile.

Numerous fans began to flock to him, and his “media presence” grew steadily. When the Australian government banned crocodile hunting in 1968, Blumenthal went to the opal mines near the town of Coober Pedy in the center of the country. He married the German singer Marta, and in one of the mines he built a house decorated with opals, which he called “Crocodile’s Nest”.

He passed away on October 13, 2006, in a hospital in the city of Coober Pedy in the state of South Australia. It was with him in mind that the script for “Crocodile Dundee” was written, but at the same time the authors of the film preferred not to mention the Latvian prototype of the hero. And it is clear why. Arvids von Blumenthals did not just join the French Foreign Legion, where legionnaires have all their past sins, including criminality, nullified, and then fled Europe all the way to Australia.

In 1942, during the occupation of Latvia by German troops, Arvid, being a 17-year-old teenager, voluntarily joins a police battalion of Nazi collaborators and fights against anti-fascist partisans. Then, in 1943, he becomes a grenadier in the Latvian SS legion. He fights in the Pskov region, in the Baltics, and Prussia. In 1945, he surrenders to the Anglo-American troops. For some reason, he manages to avoid being handed over to the Soviet authorities and remain in the Allied occupation zone.

I think the release of “Crocodile Dundee” could have ended in scandal if the press and the public had found out that the prototype of the main character is a Latvian SS man. Today, in the West, no one pays attention to such trifles.